Repudiating the lower case
Dear Johnny,
Loved your piece on the China Post (“‘Post’ in shouting headline shocker,” May 30, page 8).
Their editorials are getting more loopy by the week. From their “all anti-Chen, all the time” fixation to their recent habit of quoting Ayn Rand to justify ... something, they have lost the plot in a big way.
Anyway, did you catch their repudiation of democracy on May 22? From the final paragraph of the editorial, and I quote: “How can mankind minimize the injustices inherent within the modern nation state? More importantly, how can mankind transcend nationalism? A good first step would be to repudiate democracy and reaffirm constitutional republicanism.”
I had to read it twice, ’cos I couldn’t believe it.
As Steven Colbert put it beautifully, “Crank up the crazy, and rip off the knob.”
DAVE
Johnny replies: Yes, I saw this gem as well, but I didn’t have the room to give it all it was due. Thanks for the reminder.
I have to say that making fun of the China Post is a bit of a guilty pleasure. “There but for the grace of Matsu,” we might say. And besides, there is some good stuff in the paper.
But as I’ve said before, its editorial line is remarkable for the very short distance it maintains from a fascist philosophy that never did anyone any good. Needless to say, there is also an element of ethnic superiority that prudence forbids me from elaborating on.
As for the Post’s new screaming headline policy, readers might be interested to know that the editors wobbled on Tuesday and had the headline “General Motors Co. files for bankruptcy” that used lowercase letters.
“Goodness,” I exclaimed when I spied the page, “do the powers that be at the Post read my bilge and fart jokes?”
Well, whatever the reason, it wasn’t to last. We are now back to the status quo, with “MA MEETS CLINTON”, “OSAMA VS. OBAMA” and “ ‘MONITOR WATER SUPPLY’ ” ... all caps, all the time.
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